The Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics at their own game Thursday night in a battle of the NBA’s two most prolific 3-point shooting teams.

Chicago rode a 15-point advantage from beyond the arc to a 117-108 victory at TD Garden, with the typically sharp-shooting Celtics making just 14 of their 56 3-point attempts (a season-worst 25%). The Bulls, who came in ranked second behind Boston in attempted threes per game, went 19-for-52, led by a 36-point, 6-for-11 performance from Zach LaVine.

Jayson Tatum shot a respectable 4-for-11 from deep to lead Boston with 31 points, but his fellow Celtics starters all struggled: 1-for-8 from Jaylen Brown, 2-for-7 from Kristaps Porzingis, 3-for-12 from Derrick White and 0-for-4 from Jrue Holiday.

A tightly contested game devolved into controversy in the fourth quarter, with Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, Brown and Tatum all hit with technical fouls for arguing calls with Tony Brothers’ officiating crew. Mazzulla had to be held back by assistant coaches multiple times, including after the final whistle.

Here are four takeaways from the Celtics’ most lopsided loss of the season to date:

1. Empty threes

The most productive 3-point shooting team in the NBA struggled to even hit rim during the first quarter. The Celtics started 0-for-5, 1-for-10 and 3-for-16 from beyond the arc. They finished that quarter up four, though, offsetting their perimeter struggles by effectively attacking the rim.

Boston scored 14 points in the paint and grabbed five offensive rebounds in the opening frame. Tatum, who received his Eastern Conference Player of the Month award for October/November in a brief pregame ceremony, accounted for two of his team’s three made threes as part of a 12-point quarter.

Tatum has scored 12 or more first-quarter points in 10 of the Celtics’ 27 games, the most of any NBA player.

2. Staying tight

White and Porzingis provided 20 of Boston’s 32 points in the second quarter, with the former making both of his threes after an 0-for-4 first and the latter giving Chicago problems on drives to the basket. During one sequence midway through the quarter, Porzingis scored on three straight Celtics possessions, including a dunk off an assist from White.

Boston was more efficient from 3-point range in the second but scaled down its volume, going 3-for-8 as a team. The Bulls made 10 threes in the first half to the Celtics’ six, including two from LaVine in the final 72 seconds before halftime.

LaVine was the top offensive player on either team over the first 24 minutes, scoring 20 points on 11 shots. Boston held a narrow 57-54 lead at half.

3. Bulls pull away

The Celtics trailed for just 21 seconds in the third quarter, but neither team held a lead larger than six points. Back-to-back threes from Payton Pritchard and Tatum made it 86-80 Boston with less than 10 seconds remaining in the quarter, only for Talen Horton-Tucker to respond with a driving layup that beat the buzzer.

Two minutes later, Horton-Tucker scored on consecutive Bulls possessions to spark a 12-0 Chicago run. By the time White snapped it with a pair of free throws, the visitors had taken a 99-90 lead.

But the Celtics rallied. Brown, who’d played one of his shakiest outings of the season to that point, buried a three in front of Boston’s bench to cut the deficit to three, and White leaped to steal an outlet pass on the ensuing possession.

Momentum then lurched back toward Chicago, however, and never reverted.

The game-changing call was a jump-ball ruling after a Tatum miss. Officials instructed Pritchard to take the jump for Boston. Brown believed he’d gotten to the ball first, and the ensuing argument resulted in back-to-back technical fouls on Mazzulla and Brown.

LaVine made both technical free throws, then hit a three after Chicago won the jump ball. That put the Celtics in an eight-point hole they could not climb out of. Tatum later picked up another tech for arguing a foul call.

4. Surprise Springer

Joe Mazzulla has given early-game minutes to several deep reserves in recent weeks, inserting players like Drew Peterson, Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman and Xavier Tillman when the Celtics were shorthanded and/or looking to manufacture certain matchups.

You can now add Jaden Springer to that list.

One of the last players on Boston’s bench, Springer had only played in the fourth quarter of blowouts entering Thursday. But with the Celtics missing several backups due to injury (Sam Hauser), illness (Tillman) or G League assignments (Peterson, Scheierman, JD Davison and Anton Watson), Mazzulla subbed in Springer at the 3:14 mark of the first quarter.

Defense is Springer’s forte, and the 22-year-old guard opened the second quarter with an excellent defensive possession, denying a Patrick Williams shot and then grabbing a rebound. But the Celtics suffered multiple apparent defensive breakdowns with Springer on the court, and he brought little on the offensive end (0-for-2). He finished as a minus-8 over his 13 rebounds, notching four rebounds.

Springer’s usage will be worth monitoring over the coming months, as he’s Boston’s most realistic trade chip ahead of the Feb. 6 deadline. Moving him and his $4 million salary could give the second-apron Celtics a bit of luxury tax relief.

Mazzulla only used Springer, Pritchard and Al Horford off the bench Thursday. Luke Kornet, Neemias Queta and Walsh were healthy DNPs.